Training does pay off

I’m not very experienced at running races. I’ve run a grand total of five races: a Jingle Bell run in the Detroit area in 2007 (not timed, purely a fun run), Hospital Hill 5K in 2008, another 5k in 2008 that I don’t remember the name of but it was some sort of fund raiser for physical therapy school at KU or something like that, and then the two races late last year.

On a whim, I looked up the results for the very first 5k I ever ran, which was the Hospital Hill 5K 10 years ago.

Then I pulled my results from the race I ran in October, the double race that was a 5K and then a 3K: 

Finally, I grabbed my results from the Jingle Bell 5K I ran in December:

It's really gratifying to see that I've improved despite being 10 years older. Now I'm even more determined to see how good I can get. 

In which I am learning about the mental side of running

A week ago, I ran in the local Jingle Bell 5k race and did pretty well. I set a new personal record for the mile (7:29) and a new personal record for the 5K (25:48)—I came in 91st overall, and second in my age group.

But because I’m not very experienced at racing, I also strained my left hamstring a bit. It’s been a bad enough strain that I cut back my running this week because otherwise I’m concerned I won’t be able to run in the half marathon on New Year’s Day.

And that’s the mental part. I know logically that I’m fit, I could run a half today (well assuming my hamstring cooperates) but mentally my brain says otherwise.

It’s been a real challenge not to get clenched over skipping days in my training plan. This week, I skipped Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and today. I’m going to try a short easy run tomorrow morning, but I’m deliberately taking a loop that will let me cut the run short if I’m still hurting.

Update on Monday: Well I ran a nice slow mile, and still had a fair amount of discomfort. I'll wait until Thursday to try again. 

On a happier note, here are some photos from the 5k last weekend.

Before the race--yes, we are in a cave.

I'm the female blur in the light blue shirt.

Yay, I did it!

Finisher's medal and age group medal